


Gods and Monsters

by notsolostboy



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, M/M, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 23:15:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4411637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsolostboy/pseuds/notsolostboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felix is a mechanic at Tillman's and Peter is up to no good (as always)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gods and Monsters

 

 

 

            Tillmans. The ratty sound of a dying muffler running its last leg had fondly etched itself in to Felix’s heart, and the smell of fuel burned its memory in to his nostrils. Felix was the kid with the oil stained hands – _you know_ – the one with the scar across his face. He’d sworn it was from an accident in the shop, but the rest of Storybrooke wasn't so sure.

            In a small town like Storybrooke, such a distinguishing mark meant the label of outcast; someone that should be avoided at all costs. That was Felix to the townspeople, he didn’t get around much, and only really made conversation when he had to – like with Michael Tillman. He was the kind of man that could talk to anyone, not that Felix envied him. On the other hand, Felix wasn’t nearly as lucky. Conversation didn’t come easy to him, it wasn’t something he could pick up effortlessly, and it always made him feel like proper shit once he’d finished one.

            It was past closing, and Felix had stayed late. He had the agreement with Tillman that if he worked for him, the shop was free reign after hours. That gave Felix time to work on his own vehicle. It really wasn’t anything special, in fact, it was just something he’d found abandoned on the side of the highway leading in to Storybrooke one day.

            He’d brought the hunk of junk in to Tillman’s, and much to his surprise, the older man seemed delighted with his find. _1970 Challenger._ Tillman had told Felix to count himself lucky, that this car was real quality. However, all Felix could see from it was just really _a lot_ of work. It was a car, and at the very least, he’d have a means of transportation once he’d fixed it up.

            Six months in to this _‘project’_ and Felix was nearly ready to throw in the towel. He’d repeated the mantra that it was “good enough,” and that it’d get him where he needed to be. It didn’t matter if the paint was still chipping, or if the muffler warbled like it was going to rocket off every time the Dodge started. It ran. That was the important thing. Right?

            Felix took a step back, wiping away the sweat that had beaded across his forehead. Maybe he’d try taking it home tomorrow. He knew it’d be wise to get Tillman to give it a look over before taking it out of the shop. The last thing he needed was to be stranded outside of town with no one to call. Felix stuffed the rag in to the back pocket of his jeans and bent over to lock up his tool box.

            He came in like a tornado, sneakers squeaking on the tiled floor, and heavy breath breaking the silence of the garage. The kid came to a skidding halt behind the Dodge and pressed flat against the garage floor in less than five seconds. Felix didn’t say anything at first, he just assessed the situation. He got to his feet, toolbox in hand, as he headed towards the storage closet in the back of the garage. The sound car tires squealing to a stop in front of the garage stopped Felix’s gait in its tracks. He stopped, twisting his upper body so that he could look back at the blacked out vehicle.

            Slowly, the driver’s side window rolled down, revealing one of the most unsavory faces of Storybrooke. Mr. Gold. For a long while, he just starred in to the garage, scrutinizing Felix, who eventually sighed, and shoved his tool box in to the closet. He glanced down at the boy lying flat behind his Dodge, who pressed two fingers, forming an ‘X’, across his lips. Felix wasn’t sure what he’d done to warrant such an altercation this evening, but it didn’t seem like it was something he could just walk away from.

            Felix turned back to face Mr. Gold, grease stained hand pressed to his jean clad hip as his other hand ran its way through his tangled rats nest of blonde hair.

            “Can I help you?”

            “I’m looking for a boy, perhaps you’ve see him?”

            Felix sucked in a small breath, not daring to break eye contact with Gold.

            “Can’t say that I have.”

            Mr. Gold was silent, and after a moment, the window on his vehicle slipped back up in to place, shielding the cabin from view. Felix was off the hook, right? He let his posture relax, hand slipping from his waist, as he made to turn around to face his next problem.

            “I don’t imagine you’d be lying to me, Felix.”

            The voice came from just behind his shoulder, calm, and completely spine chilling. Felix didn’t turn around, didn’t move an inch from where he stood next to the right tire of his Dodge.

            “Don’t have any reason to,” he said, reaching for the rag in his back pocket.

            Gold’s hand curled itself around Felix’s wrist like a talon, pressing it up behind his shoulder blades. Felix sucked in a breath, hissing in pain as he went.

            “I’m going to trust you, Felix” Gold whispered, the smell of Whiskey on his breath as it curled down Felix’s neck.  

            Felix nodded slowly, unable to think of any response.

            “And if I find out that you were lying to me…” Gold’s fingers pressed against Felix’s pulse.

            “I’ll cut your heart out.”

            Gold’s hand relinquished its old on Felix’s wrist, and he shoved him forward. He fell on to his hands and knees hard against the tiled floor, but Felix didn’t say anything. However, he did manage to crane his head enough to watch the scoundrel depart from the garage.

            Once the car was out of sight, Felix pushed his back against the front tire as he took a seat on the floor. What the fuck had just happened? He ran both hands through his hair, trying to ignore the absence of the body that had previously been lying behind the Dodge.

            “That was impressive,” a voice above him cooed.

            Felix cranked his head to the side, glancing up at the boy who sat cross-legged on the hood of his car.

            “Impressive?”

            The boy nodded, thumbing a cigarette from a package that looked suspiciously like the one he’d left on the table beside the door to the office.

            “Got a light?”

            Felix was dumbfounded. Was the kid who had nearly got him killed asking him for a light for the _stolen_ cigarette? Felix exhaled, shaking his head slowly before plucking the lighter from the breast pocket of his flannel and holding it up for the kid to take.

            He took it, and gratefully lit the cancerous stick. Felix could smell the smoke as he exhaled, and pretty soon a large cloud drifted above their heads in the garage. Felix let his arm rest on his knee as he tilted his head back to glance up at the boy who still sat on his hood, making small rings out of the smoke he exhaled.

            “Why’d he chase you?”

            “You have an accent, you’re not from around here, are you?”

            Felix’s brow creased. Was this kid changing the subject on him?

            “Kentucky,” Felix grunted, rubbing at the oil stains between his fingers.

            “Hey, I’ve never been there before,” the boy mused, sliding off of the hood of the Dodge.

            He took the long way around the car, taking slow strides as if he were admiring a work of art, but not actually looking at anything in particular. It must have taken him a while to get around because by the time he’d made it to Felix, the cigarette was nearly burnt to the filter. The sound of his squeaky sneakers stopped just in front of Felix, and he bent down to face level. Before Felix could say anything, a cloud of grey smoke clouded his senses and he could have sworn he heard a soft chuckle. After that, the boy plucked the cigarette from his own lips, and placed it between Felix’s.

            Felix sucked on the stick, despite it being between a complete strangers lips only moments ago. The smoke burned his throat instantly, clogging its way down his throat. He sputtered, choking out the smog.

            “You smoked to the filter,” Felix gagged out, stubbing the cigarette out on the floor beside him.

            The kid was chuckling, clearly amused by the show Felix had put on with the burning smoke from the filter he’d just sucked on. He smiled at Felix then, and _fuck,_ if it wasn’t one of those genuine, up-to-no-good kind of smiles. They always got you hard. He pushed his tousled hair from his forehead and settled his gaze on Felix. It was the kind of gaze that demanded your attention without any words.

            “Take me home, Felix.”

            Felix was about to ask how the kid had known his name, but the memory of the altercation from before resurfaced. Gold’s spine tingling voice still rang in his ear. Before Felix had a chance to explain that he hadn’t been able to drive the Dodge before, the passenger seat was already occupied, and a hand dangled the keys from the window.

            “Coming, Felix?”

\--

            Felix went along with the insane whim. He’d never really thought too hard on his future, but if he ever had, he was sure that this wasn’t something he’d think of. He sat in the cabin of his Dodge, waiting in the parking lot of a 24 hour liquor store. The kid had been inside for at least ten minutes, just long enough to make Felix anxious. For someone that was wanted by the most feared man in town, he sure did enjoy taking his time.

            Felix had only just begun to doze off with the windows down and engine off when the passenger side door slammed shut. The assumed criminal sat beside him with a paper bag in his lap.

            “What’s in the bag?”

            The kid didn’t answer, just unscrewed the cap and took a swig.

            “Drive.”

            Felix did as he was told, and pulled out of the parking lot. He drove until they reached the tows limits, at which point he flipped the car around and started towards town again. The car was mostly quiet, aside from the hum of the engine as Felix sped up or slowed down.

            “Turn right in about 50 yards,” the kid said, taking another sip of the bagged beverage.

            “There’s no road. It’s just trees,” Felix replied, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

            “Smarter than you look.”

            Felix ignored the comment, and continued to drive. The closer he drew to the spot he was told to turn at, the more anxious Felix got. Should he turn like the boy had told him to? Surely he knew what he was talking about…right?

            The 50 yard marker was coming up and Felix glanced towards the boy in his passenger seat, then back to the dimly lit road ahead. Aside from what was right in front of them, he couldn’t see anything. He chanced another glance at the boy before swinging his wheel to the right and driving the car off the road and in to the woods.

            It wasn’t well worn, but it was a path.

            “Good choice, Felix.”

            Felix rolled his eyes, driving on in silence until he was told that up ahead he’d have to stop. Without any indicator other than ‘you’ll just know,’ Felix was once again on edge. Every few feet or so, Felix assessed the surroundings, making sure he hadn’t gone too far. After about 800 yards, a lake came in to view, and Felix rolled the Dodge to a stop. It was interesting that he’d had no idea that a place like this existed in Storybrooke, but Felix assumed it was a popular stomping ground for kids his age.

            “Now what?”

            The boy just smiled at Felix, before flicking on the top 50’s station and slipping out of the vehicle. Felix didn’t follow, not at first. He just sat in the driver’s seat, starring in awe at the boy he’d just let drag him around through the dirt. He was strangely easy to get along with, and that worried Felix. If he weren’t careful, he could get in to trouble with someone like this.

            Eventually, Felix flicked his headlights off, and left the cabin of the Dodge in favor of the hood. The boy had left his cigarettes and lighter in his cup holder, so Felix took advantage of it and pocketed it. He really didn’t feel like buying an entire new carton, shit was getting more expensive every day. At this point, Felix felt like he was going in debt, paying to kill himself slowly.

            With the headlights off, Felix couldn’t necessarily see the lake only a few yards in front of him, but he could sure as hell smell it. The unmistakable moist scent drifted towards him, intermingling with the pine from the forest around them. He thumbed at his lighter a few times, paying more attention to the boy who had his jeans rolled up to his knees as he waded in to the lake.

            “Come over here,” he called eventually, catching Felix off guard.

            He didn’t disobey though, after abandoning his phone and anything else that might ruin if water got to it, Felix took a seat on the bank of the lake, staring at the boy in front of him. He came closer, still holding the bottle of whatever he’d purchased from the liquor store. Upon getting close enough to touch Felix’s knees, he pressed the open bottle to Felix’s lips, demanding he drink.

            “What is it,” Felix asked against the lip of the bottle.

            He couldn’t smell anything, and sure as hell couldn’t see anything.

            “Guess and I’ll tell you my name,” the boy replied, pulling the bottle from Felix’s lips before he could taste the liquid that was inside the bottle.

            “Alcohol?”

            The boy gave him a sympathetic look.

            “Cute,” he said, holding the bottle to his chest.

            “Coke?”

            The boy shook his head, eyes shut. He was enjoying Felix’s failure, it was obvious.

            “W—““You ran out of guesses,” the boy whispered across the moist air between them.

            Felix shut his mouth, starring coldly at the boy in front of him. He wasn’t even sure why he’d let himself be dragged out here. The fact that the boy clearly enjoyed mocking him was starting to tick him off.

            “Drink,” he prompted again, pressing the bottle to Felix’s lips.

            This time, he didn’t wait for Felix’s permission, he tipped the glass bottle upwards, and let the cool liquid slide in to his mouth.

            Felix, startled by the sudden rush of liquid, reached up to stop the boy’s hands, but halted mid motion, suddenly amused by the choice of drink. He pulled away once the bottle had been straightened. Felix ran his tongue over his bottom lip, swiping away any excess liquid.

            “Chocolate milk?”

 The boy didn’t say anything to that, didn’t even smile. Felix found that odd, but didn’t have time to ask about it because a moment later, he had company on the bank beside him.

            “It’s Peter, actually. Peter Pan.”

            Felix exhaled slowly, dropping his head back to stare up at the night sky. Usually, the stars were what kept his mind at peace during the night, but right now, they were useless.

            Peter didn’t get back in the lake after that, the two of them sat on the bank for a while, mostly content with the music drifting from the Dodge and the chocolate milk shared between the two of them. Felix didn’t move to check the time once, the fact that he had work in the morning seemed to fall to the wayside while he sat with Peter. By the time they’d wandered back to the Dodge and started it up, Felix’s phone read a quarter past three.

            They drove with the windows down, straight in to town, where Peter insisted he be let out. He’d said something along the lines of not wanting a stranger to know where he lived. Felix didn’t see much sense in the statement considering that Peter was the stranger in his equation, but couldn’t find it in himself to keep the boy any longer in his car. He pulled to the curb, and watched as Peter slid out of the passenger side.

            Once the door was shut, he leaned in through the window, smiling at Felix like a fond parent.

            “Next time you’ll get a big boy drink.”

            Felix found the humor in that. He’d assumed that Peter had alcohol in the bottle because of the paper bag. He had walked right in to the trick and proved that Peter was cleverer than he seemed. Felix leaned his head back against his head rest, a hint of a smirk on his lips as Peter slinked off in the shadows of the buildings. He wasn’t sure where Peter had come from, or how long he had gone undetected by his nonexistent radar, but Felix had a feeling he’d be seeing a lot more of the troublesome kid, whether he wanted to or not. But, being completely honest with himself, he _really_ wanted to.


End file.
